Hey everyone, I'm back with a quicker update here for your viewing pleasure. Since my Spring break is almost done, I decided to get one last chapter out while I had the time in between my other side activities. Before we start, I'd like to thank you all for the reviews on the last chapter. That was the first time in a long time I got over 20 reviews for a chapter release. It'd be awesome to be consistent with that, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. So, let's get to the chapter. Be sure to read the end authors note and answers to reviews I received.

Last Time: Ash received Froakie as his first new Pokémon from the Kalos region before leaving Lumiose City. Serena and Shauna left Vaniville Town to go to Lumiose City to start their journey they promised to go on together when they were kids. Ash caught a Fletchling and then bumped into someone from his past.

Key:

Bold- PA system/Message Bulletins

Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex descriptions

Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks

Ash had a wide grin on his face as he looked at the person in front of him. It was Brock. He hurried over to the road and hopped the fence as he went to greet his old friend.

"Brock, what are you doing here?" Ash asked, his grin never leaving his face.

"I've been trying to catch up with you," Brock replied as he held out his fist which Ash bumped.

"I thought you were settling down to do your studies to become a breeder?"

"I am still doing my studies, but now I am enrolled in a class that requires a lot of research on Pokémon and I came here to do it."

"So you have to do a field research project?"

"Yeah, it's worth the entire grade."

"Sounds like you have your hands full."

"It's nothing I can't handle."

Ash smirked and lightly slapped Brock's shoulder at his response. His friend that he viewed as the older brother he never had was always determined to learn everything he could about Pokémon in hopes to become a breeder one day. He knew Brock was squared away with his knowledge and was undoubtedly one of the best students in his class. As Ash thought about this, he realized how close Brock was to accomplishing his dream and that made him think about his own of becoming a Pokémon Master. He shook his head and told himself not to think about that as it would only make him think about past mistakes instead of focusing on the present.

"When I got here early this morning I saw the news. It looks like you've been busy," Brock said as they started walking down the road.

"Yeah, Team Rocket will do that to you," Ash replied.

"I should have guessed it was them behind that. Seems like you can't stay out of trouble for long, can you?"

"Brock, come on. I don't go looking for trouble, trouble always finds me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

The two of them laughed as they continued their walk down the road. As they were walking, Brock became fascinated with Ash's newly acquired Fletchling that was perched on his shoulder. He snapped a quick picture of it and pulled out a pencil and paper and started scribbling down something that Ash could not make out. It appeared to be towards his research project that he was doing for his class. When Ash voiced his curiosity about Brock's note taking, he confirmed his thoughts by saying that it was towards his project. Brock said that his project was to record as many Pokémon he could in the region and observe their habitat and migration patterns when the weather changed.

"Yeah, that's way too extensive to hold my interest. I prefer to keep things simple," Ash said with a smirk.

"I figured as much." Brock laughed. "So where are we heading next?"

"I'm heading to Santalune City. That's where my first gym battle will be and I plan on taking it with my first try."

"Still as confident as ever I see."

"You know it."

"Do you know what kind of Pokémon the gym leader uses?"

Ash crossed his arms when Brock asked him that. The night before when he was looking for each gym he did some research about them. He read on blog posts that the gym leader of Santalune was a girl named Viola who specialized in Bug-types. When he saw that he knew he already had the fight in the bag because of Charizard, but he only wanted to use him as a last resort because it would not be much of a fight otherwise. He wanted to start getting his Kalos Pokémon trained up and the only way to do that was to have Pikachu and Charizard sit out on the battle.

"Yeah, the gym leader specializes in Bug-types," Ash replied. "I can take her on and win easily, but I want to start getting my new Pokémon up to speed."

"Wait, she?" Brock asked as his head perked up and a smile came to his face. "What's her name?"

"Viola."

"That sounds like a beautiful name."

Ash sighed and shook his head at his friend's words. He was not too surprised that Brock's womanizing attitude was still intact, but he was hoping Brock did mature a bit in that department.

"Well, we can make it to Santalune in an hour or so if we hurry," Ash said as he started jogging. "Let's go!"

"Huh? Hey, Ash, wait up!" Brock said as he hurried after him.

Serena and Shauna made their way into the southern gate of Lumiose City and were speechless. It was the first time they stepped into the city and they were amazed by the sheer size of it. They were surrounded by many apartment complexes, stores, restaurants and in the distance they could see the iconic Prism Tower that seemed to stretch into the limitless sky.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Shauna said as she looked all around. "We definitely need to do some sightseeing before we leave!"

"We can do that later," Serena said as she grabbed Shauna's wrist. "We're heading to professor Sycamore's lab first."

"Ow! Hey, take it easy!"

Shauna's words fell on deaf ears as Serena pulled her down the road. The two friends made their way along one of the canals and weaved between the large crowds of people that traversed the street. While they ran they could see construction crews working in sealed off areas that were blocked by police tape to allow them to work. The damage must have been from the day before when Garchomp went on a rampage.

"You know, something's been bothering me," Shauna said as she looked at the damage.

"What's been bothering you?" Serena replied as she looked at her.

"That Garchomp caused all this damage because it was angry. What's to stop Pokémon under a trainer from doing that?"

"You're not having second thoughts about getting a Pokémon are you?"

"Not at all! I'm just scared to think that maybe a Pokémon may act on its own and ignore my commands."

Serena was a little surprised with Shauna's insight. She learned from her mother that most trainers were competent and able to hold control over their Pokémon because of the bonds that were formed and the respect that they earned by training them. She also told her that in some cases the Pokémon would ignore their master if they did not respect them. A Pokémon that just randomly attacked people for no reason seemed farfetched to Serena because that only happened when a Pokémon was startled or if it was in their nature in their natural habitat. Pokémon just didn't attack people for no reason.

"Shauna, I don't think you need to worry about that," Serena assured. "I know you will be a great trainer. Besides, Pokémon wouldn't just randomly attack people for no reason. What happened yesterday happened because Garchomp was provoked and enraged by someone."

Shauna appeared a little unsure of Serena's answer, but eventually smiled and nodded. Her worry vanished almost as quickly as it came. The two of them rounded a corner and came to a large structure that had some damage done in the front. The rubble that littered the sidewalk to the front door was being cleaned up by another construction crew. They made their way inside the building and came into the main hall to see a staircase that led upstairs and two hallways that led to other parts of the laboratory.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Serena asked as she took a step forward.

Footsteps came from the stairs and a man came into view. He was wearing a white lab coat and was fairly tall with dark hair. The man's head perked up as he saw the two and a smile came to his face. His pace quickened as he reached the bottom of the stairs and he stood in front of the two girls with a welcoming smile on his face.

"Ah, what can I help you two with today?" The man asked.

"We're looking for professor Sycamore. Is he here?" Shauna replied.

"I'm professor Sycamore, and I'll bet that you two are here to become Pokémon trainers?"

"Yep. Also, Professor, I saw this trainer on the news. The report was all about how he saved a Garchomp."

Serena ignored the look Shauna gave her after she asked that question. She knew she was going to get a wave of questions from her later, but she had to know if the boy she saw was truly the person she believed. Professor Sycamore nodded and smiled again.

"Oh, you're talking about Ash?" Sycamore replied as he tucked his clipboard under his arm.

"Ash! I knew it!" Serena thought as excitement filled her.

"I'm afraid you just missed him. He left here early this morning for Santalune City to challenge the gym leader."

"Santalune City? Professor, may we choose our Pokémon?"

Sycamore smiled again as he nodded.

"Of course you can. Have you chosen who you'd like?" Sycamore replied.

"I do," Serena said with a nod.

"Alright, everybody come on out!"

Sycamore gave a sharp whistle as he turned to look down the hall to the left. Three Pokémon came into view and hurried to stand in front of Sycamore. Shauna's and Serena's faces lit up at seeing the three Pokémon standing in front of them. All three of the Pokémon looked cute to the two girls, but Serena had already made her decision on which one she wanted. She was curious about who Shauna would choose and knew the decision wouldn't be easy, especially for Shauna since she would easily be conflicted with leaving only one of them not being chosen.

"These are the three Pokémon that trainers start with here in Kalos. Fenniken, Froakie, and Chespin," Sycamore said as he presented the three Pokémon before him. "Which Pokémon would you like?"

Shauna and Serena stepped forward and squatted to be eye to eye with the three Pokémon. Serena was in front of Fennekin while Shauna was looking between Chespin and Froakie. While the two of them were debating, Sycamore reached into his pocket and pulled out two Pokédexes.

"Before you two make your choice, take these. It's a Pokédex and they allow you to record any information on a Pokémon you see and catch. All you have to do is point it at the Pokémon in front of you and it will tell you basic information about it," Sycamore explained.

"Wow, really? That's so cool!" Shauna said as she and Serena both took one.

"Why don't you give it a shot?"

Serena kneeled in front of Fennekin and pointed her Pokédex at it. The Pokédex came to life and on the screen a picture of Fennekin appeared.

"Fennekin, the Fox Pokémon. Fennekin expels hot air that can reach nearly 400 degrees. It likes to snack on twigs," the Pokédex explained.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Serena said with excitement. "Let's see what it says about you two."

She moved her Pokédex to Chespin and finally Froakie and managed to collect information about the other two. Shauna did the same and recorded the information that Serena's Pokédex relayed to them moments ago. She groaned and cupped her chin as her eyes looked between the three Pokémon. This was not going to be an easy decision and she did not want to hurt the feelings of any of them by not choosing them.

"This is so hard," Shauna said with a pout.

"They're all so cute, but I already made up my mind," Serena said as she stood up. "You see, I knew who I wanted before I left the house."

Serena stepped forward again and kneeled in front of Fennekin.

"Fennekin, I pick you!" Serena smiled. "I'm Serena. It's nice to meet you!"

Fennekin gave a friendly yap at Serena as a greeting.

"Who are you picking, Shauna?" Serena asked as she looked at her friend.

Shauna did not answer as she kneeled in front of Chespin and Froakie. She looked between the two Pokémon before her. She never had to make a choice this difficult before and her indecisiveness was only making it worse. She groaned as she ran her hands through her hair. Both Chespin and Froakie were cool and having either of them would be good, but it was getting more difficult to make a decision. In times like this, Shauna would use her own personal method to help her make a decision. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin. If it landed heads she would choose Chespin and if it came up tails, she would choose Froakie.

She placed the coin on her finger and there was a small chime as her nail kicked it into the air. She caught the coin in her hand and slapped it on top of her other hand. When she moved her hand to see the side that came up she looked up again.

"I choose…"

The sky's blue color was beginning to turn orange as the afternoon hours set in. Ash and Brock were standing outside the city and quietly observing it. While not as loud and large as Lumiose City, Santalune City looked less hectic and it reminded them of the cities back in Kanto like Viridian and Vermillion.

"So what's your plan?" Brock asked as he looked at Ash. "Are you going to battle Viola today or are you going to wait and battle her tomorrow?"

"I'll do it tomorrow," Ash said as he crossed his arms. "I want some time to plan my strategy and I want to get some training in beforehand."

"That's new. Usually when you did your first gym battle in a new region you would jump right in."

"That's true, but I'm trying to take a new approach to my training style."

"What do you mean?"

Ash said nothing as he reached into his bag and pulled out the notebook that he made in Sinnoh. Brock's brow rose with interest as he saw the notebook Ash was holding. He remembered seeing the notebook back during their Sinnoh journey and remembered that Ash started working on it halfway through their journey and was very impressed with the amount of work he put into it to better himself.

"I remember that notebook," Brock said as Ash handed it to him and he thumbed through the pages.

"I can tell you now that if you follow your strategies here you'll do well, Ash," Brock said as he handed back the notebook.

"Thanks. Now, let's get ourselves a room and I can get to training."

Ash and Brock walked into the city and made their way down the streets in search for the Pokémon Center. They managed to find the familiar red roofed building a few blocks down the street and entered. Inside the Pokémon Center there were a few trainers lounging in the lobby and staff members were making their final rounds before the next shift started. Ash and Brock made their way to the counter to check in with the receptionist to register a room.

"How may I help you?" The receptionist asked as he looked at them.

"We need a room for the night," Ash replied as he and Brock pulled out their IDs.

"Okay, let me just run your ID for a minute."

The receptionist scanned their IDs and handed them back after the computer gave a ding, signaling that they were eligible to use the room. He handed Ash the key to their room and Ash thanked him as they walked down the hall.

"Hey, Brock, why don't you take the key?" Ash said as he handed him the keycard. "I'm going out back to the training field to get working on my strategy."

"Okay, I'll be out in a while to give you some help."

"Awesome, I'll see you in a bit."

Brock disappeared down the hall in search for their room as Ash made his way through the lobby and out to the back doors. The doors slide open and he stepped on the concrete ground of a training field. The cool night air was welcoming for Ash as the hot day came to an end. He grabbed all the Poké Balls that were attached to his hip and threw them into the air. Three snaps met his ears as Froakie, Fletchling and Charizard materialized on the field before him. Pikachu jumped from his shoulder and hurried over to them so Ash could explain what they were doing.

"Okay everybody, we made it to Santalune City and the gym is right down the road here," Ash began as he looked at each of them. "Now, I know in the past we would dive into the gym battle as soon as we got to a city, but I want to do something different."

Charizard, Froakie and Fletchling exchanged looks and then their gazes returned to Ash.

"Instead, we'll be battling the gym leader tomorrow. I want to spend tonight training and rehearsing some strategies that I know will work," Ash continued as he set his bag down and pulled out his notebook.

Ash opened the notebook and looked at some of the strategies he had that he wanted to practice with his team. They varied from maneuvers to execution of an attack as well as timing. He knew that Viola was a Bug-type gym leader and he had a whole section dedicated to Bug-type trainers and how they usually battled. He planned on looking through that while his team did some warm up drills.

"Now, I won't lie. We could easily win the badge tomorrow if I just used Charizard," Ash said as he nodded at him.

Charizard snorted and a flame came out of his nose as he puffed his chest out with pride. What Ash said was true, but he would be surprised with what he heard next.

"However, I want to have a bit of a challenge and let our new teammates here get some experience," Ash said as he pointed to Froakie and Fletchling. "Charizard, I only want to use you as a last resort. Now that we are building a new team, your main job will be to help train them. Understand?"

Charizard was a little surprised that Ash was only going to use him when he deemed it was necessary, but understood why. He spared a glance and Fletchling and Froakie who looked up at him with some nervousness. A grin came to his face. He would be more than willing to help Ash train the new members of the team and he would take pleasure in working them to the ground to build them up.

"Froakie, Fletchling, you'll be the two I'll be using for the battle tomorrow," Ash said. "Now, in order for this to work, I need to see what you can do. The sooner we can get in sync here, the better we'll look."

Froakie and Fletchling nodded at Ash as he said that and were now fired up for some training. They wanted to prove themselves to Ash as well as the veterans of his team, Charizard and Pikachu.

"Let's get to work. I want all of you to do warm ups now. Start with down and backs up the court here. Let's go!" Ash said as he clapped his hands.

Charizard, Pikachu, Froakie and Fletchling hustled over to one side of the court and waited for Ash to give the signal to move. Ash pulled out a whistle and blew into it. The sharp note left the whistle and the group ran down the court as fast as they could. The court shook when Charizard would take a step, but it did not disrupt their movement. He blew into the whistle again and the team turned around and ran up the court once more. Ash had them repeat this process for almost three minutes before having them stop.

Each of them was panting and now loosened up to spar which was what he wanted to see. He was going to have Pikachu and Froakie fight each other while Charizard would work with Fletchling. He wanted to see the evasive capabilities that Froakie and Fletchling had. He had Froakie and Fletchling pair up with their partners and blew into the whistle after telling them what he wanted.

Ash watched the spars unfold before him as he watched to see what Froakie and Fletchling could do. He was impressed with what he saw from Froakie as he sparred with Pikachu. Each strike or attack Pikachu would use would be met with a dodge or a parry and counterattack. The last one he saw was Froakie deflecting Pikachu's Iron Tail with his hand and giving a punch of his own. Pikachu dodge the punch as he jumped back, but Froakie jumped up high and reached for the frubbles around his neck. He threw a handful of frubbles at Pikachu, but he easily dodged them. Ash nodded and scribbled down what he saw with Froakie's technique and started to think about how he could use it.

Ash had written side notes on Froakie's personal page. Froakie's biggest advantages were his speed, focus and his frubbles. Froakie's frubbles would be a key aspect he could use to his advantage with their sticky residue and durability. If he wanted he could use it on the field to limit enemy movement and maybe trap them if lucky, or he could have Froakie puff them out and use them as a way to absorb damage. He scribbled down his last thoughts and then turned his attention to Charizard and Fletchling.

Charizard would attack Fletchling with his Flamethrower or try to get a hit with his claws and tail. Fletchling would be able to make last second dodges that would not be possible with other Pokémon and the counterattacks he gave were not as strong, but they were still quick. Ash turned to Fletchling's profile to see what he had written so far. His notes reflected on Fletchling's aggressive nature and his ability to use Steel Wing. Steel Wing would be able to deflect certain attacks and even had the potential to send it back, which he remembered after seeing Barry's Empoleon do it against Paul's Ursaring. He wrote down that bit and then mentioned Fletchling's incredible speed.

"I can make this work," Ash thought as he looked between Froakie's and Fletchling's profiles. "All I have to do now is take a look at the notes I have about Bug-type trainers."

"How's it looking?" Brock asked as he sat down beside Ash.

"It's going pretty good," Ash replied. "I know I can win this match if I use Froakie's and Fletchling's abilities to their advantage."

"That's great to hear. I'm looking forward to what they can do."

"I'm sure you'll be surprised."

Brock nodded as he looked at Ash's Pokémon train with each other. All of them were giving it all they had to get the best out of their training. He was impressed with what he saw taking place before him and had to give Ash a lot of credit for doing a very thorough analysis of his newest team members. Both of them seemed to have a lot of potential and it would only grow with experience.

"I think it's time to turn in. We need to get some shuteye for tomorrow," Ash said as he closed his notebook and stood up.

Ash blew into the whistle, calling his Pokémon to a halt. His team stopped fighting and hustled over to stop in front of him. All of them were worn out from pushing each other during their spars, but looked as though they were ready for more. Ash smiled at his team with pride as he saw this unfolding the way he wanted it to. If he kept this up, he could easily rectify the mistakes he made in the past and overcome anything that stood in his way.

"That's enough for now, we need our rest for tomorrow," Ash said as he tucked his whistle away.

His team nodded in agreement and relaxed as Ash pulled out each of their balls and returned them. Pikachu hurried over to Ash and climbed to his shoulder just like he always did. Ash clipped the balls back to his belt and walked back inside with Brock. They walked to the front counter and Ash handed the Poké Balls he had to Nurse Joy. She took them and gave him a smile as she walked to the side room and came back moments later.

"Your Pokémon will be ready for battling tomorrow, Ash," Joy said. "You can come get them tomorrow morning."

"That sounds good, thanks," Ash replied.

"Get some rest now!"

"Your wish is my command Nurse Joy!" Brock said with a bow.

"Okay, come on."

Ash grabbed Brock by the back of his shirt and hauled him down the hall. Brock gave a groan as Ash stopped him from talking with Nurse Joy again. He pulled out the keycard and swiped it and the door clicked open for them to enter their room. Brock had taken the bed on the left which left Ash to plop down on the bed to the right. He kicked off his shoes and rested his hat on the bedside table. He reached into his bag and pulled out the notebook and dropped it on the pillow.

After he changed into his pajamas he stretched back out on his bed and started to read his notebook again. He glanced over the strategies that Bug-type trainers used a lot and started to make a mental note of what he should prepare for with his fight with Viola. The strategies he knew a lot of Bug-type users had in common was their slowing and delaying techniques with String Shot and Sticky Web. Those were two of the main threats that he would be looking out for aside from the poison capabilities and speed.

"I have to play this slow and steady tomorrow if I want to win with Froakie and Fletchling," Ash thought as he closed the notebook and set it on the table. "I have the chance to start this league run on a clean slate and I will not let that slip through my fingers."

With those thoughts and visions of victory circling his head, Ash closed his eyes and fell asleep, eager to start his badge run on a high note.

So that's the chapter everybody! I don't know when I'll get time to update again, but I'll try to do it sometime soon. Next time Ash will battle Viola first his first gym badge. So, until next time, look out below to see my answers to some of the reviews I got and announcements.

Statements:

1.) This would have been out earlier, but since I've been on Spring break, my last one mind you, I've been doing my best to enjoy it. Partying, girls, shooting my rifle, Titanfall, etc.

Answers to reviews:

ultimateCCC: "What about Fairy-Type Pokémon?"

Answer: I will not give Ash any Fairy-Type Pokémon. In my opinion, it's a waste of a type and was completely pointless to introduce. I admire the creativity of the type, but will not give him any. I will only give Ash a Fairy-Type if the anime gives him one.

Krish11762: "Great chapter, but I wished that Garchomp would have also joined them."

Answer: Thank you. Now to answer that, there'd be no point. Ash already has a Gible that can evolve into a Garchomp and I plan to have that happen as the story goes on.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: "What type of Charizardite was it? X or Y?"

Answer: You'll have to wait and find out.

gallantmon7196: "Now in a previous chapter you said ass use previous Pokémon. Will any of those Pokémon evolve in in this story?"

Answer: Hmm, interesting nickname for Ash there, but to answer your question, yes. I will not go overboard with the evolutions though. I will probably only evolve one or two of Ash's previous Pokémon.